Ex-police officer ‘preyed on vulnerable women’ he met while investigating crimes, court told

Prosecutor says Daniel Nash’s alleged behaviour against 12 women was ‘persistent and predatory’

Daniel Nash appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court (PA )

An ex-police officer is alleged to have exploited his position to “prey” on vulnerable women.

Daniel Nash, a former Derbyshire Police constable, is accused of 13 counts of misconduct between January 2015 and December 2020.

The charges accuse him of sexual advances against a dozen women, some of whom were victims of domestic violence or suspects in criminal investigations.

At Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, prosecutor Jocelyn Ledward said the 40-year-old’s behaviour was “persistent and predatory”.

She claimed he used his position as a police officer to meet women and sought to “leverage his position of power in order to prey on them sexually”.

As part of the allegations, Nash and his colleague PC Matthew Longmate, 46, are both said to have had sexual contact with a woman while on duty in October 2015.

Ms Ledward said the complainant was drunk and, having been kicked out of a nightclub, was being given a lift home by the police at the time of the incident.

While Nash gave no indication of what he would plead, Longmate, who has been suspended from the force, will plead not guilty to the charge of “engaging in sexual acts”.

District Judge Michael Snow granted both men bail, provided they do not communicate with each other or any of the complainants.

They will next appear at Southwark Crown Court on 18 October.